All downhill from here

Introducing the new and improved Gracie! You'll notice a similar theme to all of the above pictures: banana rice puffs. I think it's a novel idea for her to be able to sit and have access to food all the time. We've had to put all food out of sight and only bring it out on occasion. Otherwise she wants to have it all! She's almost made her way through one container. Good thing we have two more. We're definitely saving one for the flight home.

So, where were we? We got her on Monday and she was pretty sad. By Tuesday afternoon she was playing and opening up. Tuesday night we thought we'd try a bath to see how she liked it and it was the biggest hit yet. She was splashing and laughing and swishing the water around with her hands. (Lily, I don't think you're going to like taking a bath with her for a while :-) The only crying we had that night was when we had to get out of the bathtub, but by then she was tired and soon fell asleep. Wednesday morning I think she woke up and thought, "These people, still! Enough already." She was very reserved again, but no crying. She seems to deal with stress by going very still and quiet. Lily took us to a big park in Nanning called "Green Hills Park" I carried Grace in the sling on my hip and she was just very floppy and looking around. At the park some local girls wanted to have their picture taken with us. They were about ten and very giggly. As soon as they were done they ran and hid behind their parents, but not before Grace handed them her Little People zebra. The handing is still a big deal.

After the park we came back to the room and took a nap, then another bath (at least an hour and she still didn't want to get out!) so we went for a walk to get out of the room and found the outside pool that we have access to through the hotel. We decided if she liked the bath so much, the pool would be even better, and we were right. She is a little fish - put her whole face in and doesn't mind getting her eyes wet. Oh, but wait, the most exciting news is that she pooped on the potty (sorry non-family members, but this is quite extraordinary and must be shared) When we were getting our swimsuits on she started pulling on her diaper and making a face like she was pooping, but when I took it off she was clean so I thought, why not? I held her on the toilet and said in Chinese (see, those lessons paid off) "go poop" and she did! Just like that. Pretty cool, eh? Don't ask me how they did that, but it worked.

After swimming we went to our favorite dinner spot; The Diner. It's right by the restaurant but a big spot for the locals. It's about one block long and has an open counter along one whole side. You go to the window that has the picture of what you want to eat, order it and then sit down and they bring it to you. We've tried all kinds of good things, and Gracie eats everything right along with us. Here's a list of the things we know she'll eat so far: Congee with chicken, mushrooms and onions, fried rice with pork and red peppers, scrambled eggs, shredded beef, green peppers, steamed fish, waterchestnut gelatin, tea, bananas, watermelon and noodles with any kind of sauce. All of the above she has fed to herself, holding the spoon very carefully in her left hand. If she drops something, she'll pick it up with her fingers, put it back on the spoon and then put it in her mouth. Today at a restaurant I fed her noodles in sauce with chopsticks while she was sitting on my lap. Kids, don't try this at home.

Today was the big day to visit the orphanage and see the foster family. It was a bit nerve-wracking again, but it turned out very well. When we arrived at the orphanage the whole family was standing outside the front door waiting for us. I wasn't sure if I wanted them to hold her again or if I should keep her with me, but that question was answered when they flung the car door open with a big cheer and took her right out of my arms. Amazingly she didn't cry or laugh, but just looked at them the same way she's been looking at us for most of the past few days. Kind of like, "wha...huh? o.k." They whisked her inside and I followed.

We all introduced ourselves. The brother who had written us the emails was there along with the parents and an aunt who was holding the other foster child. The dad held Grace on his lap and fed her a banana while we were allowed to ask questions through an interpreter. We found out her lip had been repaired last Nov. at the local Chinese hospital. They taught us some tricks about how to feed her the formula (on your lap with a spoon) and the foster dad chided us slightly that the airconditioning in the car had probably been too cold for her :-) We gave them the presents we had brought and everyone took a lot of pictures. The foster mom and dad both had a few tears in their eyes, which of course made me have a few tears in mine as well, but it was so good to have met them. They seemed qenuinely happy to see us and to get to hold her one last time. They asked us to be sure to email pictures once in a while and if we ever came back to China with Sophie and Lily we should come visit them. They handed Grace back to me and she was fine, which was a huge relief, and then they left and we went back inside to give the orphanage the gifts we had brought.

They were very grateful for the 40% zinc oxide diaper rash ointment we brought. They said they need that very badly because it is so hot and humid and the kids don't always get changed right away as you can imagine. (By the way, I'll take this moment to plug my cause: If anyone out there would like to donate some ointment to the orphanage, I can have a mailing label made up in Chinese so that you can mail it directly there. They were very excited to get it and said it's just not available over there. End of plug) We were told we could not go inside the children's part of the orphanage because we might spread diseases to the kids. Probably not the real reason, but policy none-the-less. We were shown the playground and the gardens and the outside of the building. We could hear lots of little kids' voices and saw a few out for a walk on the grounds. Then we were done. Lily took us to a museum of the local province and then it was back home for the nap. Only one more day in Nanning and then it's off to Guangzhou. Probably more swimming this afternoon.